One thing that Ryan Poles is not is a staunch traditionalist. When it comes to running a successful football organization, he is willing to accept advice from any avenue. Old school. New school. It doesn’t matter. If he feels there is something to be learned from a different approach, he’ll look into it. Never was that clearer than when he took an opportunity to learn the inner workings of one of the most successful sports franchises in history.
Peter King of NBC Sports had a chance to meet Poles for the first time at the scouting combine. The longtime insider quickly learned how unique the young GM’s viewpoint is. Not long before he secured the Chicago Bears job, he met a friend who works for the New York Yankees that gave him detailed insights into how the organization is run. Everything from personnel to salary structure and so on was covered.
It isn’t just about finding success. It is about sustaining success.
The Yankees are considered the upper class of American professional sports. They’ve won 27 championships to date in their long history, more than any organization in any of the big four sports this side of the western hemisphere. They’ve made the playoffs 57 times, including six of the last seven years. It is only logical that Poles would want to learn how they’ve maintained such consistent excellence for so long.
He is incorporating some of what he learned based on his early moves—specifically unloading older players with unwanted contracts. Khalil Mack was traded. Tarik Cohen and Eddie Goldman were both cuts. Everything is about freeing up resources for the future. Poles said that he wants to build through the draft from the moment he took over. He wants to bring in young players and develop them. That is how the Yankees have operated for decades.
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Ryan Poles has made it clear he is focused on winning
Not just now or next year. He wants to win all the time. Every year. That is how an organization maximizes its opportunities to hoist championship trophies. Just look at the team he came from, the Kansas City Chiefs. They made the playoffs in five out of six seasons from 2013 to 2018 before finally breaking through to that elusive Lombardi trophy in 2019. The experience they’d built up over that time while continuing to stack the roster with young talent enabled them to accomplish the goal.
The Bears haven’t done anything like that since the 1980s—a big reason is their failure to draft and develop their own talent. The rival Green Bay Packers have done far better over the same span of time. Ryan Poles knows this. It is why he’s trying to accumulate draft picks, and it’s why he hired Matt Eberflus as the head coach. One of the key traits that stood out about the former Indianapolis Colts defensive coordinator was his teaching ability.
Not just defense but the game of football in general.
It is a trait that many coaches think they possess but don’t. Matt Nagy is one such option. While a great motivator, his ability to teach and develop younger players never stood out. It’s why most of the offensive names the Bears drafted never reached their full potential. Poles’ goal is to fix these issues. If he succeeds, lots of winning should follow.
